Prompt 18: The Beginning
Write a poem set before the world as we know it came to be. It can be set in the blackness of space, it can involve the big bang or genesis, or anything you imagine.
Prompt 19: The End
Write a poem set after or during the apocalypse.
Zero
Gather around children let me tell you a story about Zero, the most powerful number in the universe.
In the beginning, the quiet was interrupted by a stillness called Zero.
Zero was born out of a life force like no other.
So strong Zero didn’t have a mother or a father.
An existence no one could follow or copy.
Zero’s gender was neither male nor female.
Nor animal or beast.
It was peaceful and calm, centered as a collection of elements waiting to be released.
Simmering like fire, cool like water, breezy like air and solid as the ground we call earth.
A mystical creation holding the very essence of life.
Levitating in the vastness of space, Zero was a mere collaboration of energy created to bring forth truth.
With the patience of an unborn child, Zero gave birth to the darkness in your eyes, the light shining in the sky and the endless landscape of the sea. In reality, Zero created you and Zero created me.
-Hafeezah 6/22/19
End times
It’s not what Nostradamus said
even revelations are unheard
the world, I fear
Is ending near
with bullies, rapists and people smeared.
It starts with just a tiny cracking
with morals and manners lacking
scandals, sex and drugs abound
rotting each and every town.
Each flood that drowns, erodes the earth
and fires burn our homes to dirt
earthquakes, landslides kill within
and hurricanes, tornadoes always win.
With each and every shooting spree
a hurt explodes inside of me
a murder here, a kidnap there
each sin becomes too much to bear.
A man in tatters holds a sign
the end is near, the truth shall rhyme
just one more crime may be the crack
in this tired Earth’s breaking back.
-Sandra Johnson, 6/22/19
Last Call
Surrending to the chaos we wait for the call.
The destination predicted to end us all.
One by one we look up towards the sky, many still questioning why.
There is no fire, nor storm, or rain just simply pain.
Cascading around us like a dance.
Finally connected in our humanness.
Neither fortune nor fame will save us from the rapture of going insane.
Bonded by one another’s thoughts.
We now see the true results of greed and envy.
The end of us all presented in the form of a child, looking down at us from a great mountain peak.
We wait patiently to hear her speak.
A hum escapes her lips as the end approaches with the flick of her wrist.
We all will evaporate into the abyss.
She smiles as the tears roll down our faces.
What if we decided to dismiss the idea of separate races?
She shook her head with dread, preparing a funeral for the dead.
What if we undo the horrors of our past and all take a sip from one cup?
She sat down and crossed her legs to move into a meditative state.
We all knew by now it was too late to negotiate.
As her eyes close our minds deteriorate.
-Hafeezah 6/22/19
Love your poems. With a name like Hafeezah, you truly must be a poet. Beautiful work.